Breaking Down Walls

A wall is not built by one brick...a doubt is not formed by one question...a life is not lived by one moment...a change is not reached by one choice, it takes many.  In our culture of "I want it now" littered with fast food, instant messaging, direct deposit, and live TV (to name only a few) we can easily forget how things...all things, must work together...and DO work together, build on each other, need one another (whether we want them to or not).  Each moment of an individual life becomes interwoven with every other moment and effects how past is perceived and how future is approached.  Not only that, but in the amazing way God has created our minds we are able to relate one unrelated moment with another and find a common thread.  A message, if you will, of learning directed specifically at the individual.  We see this when a conversation, television show, song on the radio, and sermon all seem to "speak" the same message into our lives in a short period of time.  It is these learnings we share with others.  We talk about "how weird is this?"...  I believe it's God's way of saying "Listen up!  I have a plan for you!"

The church sermon today was on the Second Coming of Jesus, Sunday school before church was about how we know the Bible is trustworthy, and yesterday I had a conversation with my family about Satan's desire to stop us in our tracks by building up a wall and blocking out the light.  Through these individual moments, the Holy Spirit spoke truth into my life in a way that said, "Listen up!  I have a plan for you!" When God speaks this way, we simply can not keep it to ourselves, so I'd like to share the common thread with you: DOUBT.

How often do we doubt?  We may doubt a commercial, or a story told to us by a friend.  We may doubt the stability of a structure, or the validity of the weather man.  Whatever doubts you're faced with on a day to day, the one we all have in common is doubt in our faith...doubt in God.  We are all presented with opportunities to doubt God.  This is Satan's life's work!  His desire is to cause us to doubt God's truth and turn away!  Let's look at it this way, we are all walking our own tunnel and there is light at the end...suddenly, we smack into a brick wall-stopping us in our tracks and blocking out the light.  On the wall is written a question.  Satan's way of weaseling into your thoughts with a question (which may be based in fact) laced with the slightest hint of a lie.  And what do we do?  It's dark...the light is hidden.  It's cold...the light's warmth is blocked.  We panic.  We doubt.  We fear.  We begin to wonder if that question written on the brick wall is valid...we begin to question God...we begin to believe Satan.

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That's the ugly truth of it...if you're NOT believing God, you ARE believing Satan...and he is winning a battle (within your heart) that he has already LOST!!!  Did you hear that?  Satan is trying to take back a victory that is not his.  Christ WON the battle on the cross and Satan is pissed!  He will do EVERYTHING in his power to hide the victor's banner from your sight.  BUT...there is hope!  If you have the Holy Spirit, you have the power to tell Satan to flee from your sight and that brick wall will flee with him and take all doubt with it!  What beautiful fantastic hope!

Are you up against a wall?  Are you having trouble seeing and feeling the light?  Rely on the power of the Spirit and tell Satan, "Get behind me!  You have NO place here!"  Break through that wall and keep moving forward!  Don't be surprised when another wall appears, but don't give in!  A brick wall can only stop you for as long as it takes you to blast it down!  Some walls will take some work, one brick at a time, but allow God to work alongside you as he changes and shapes your character into His likeness.  Learn from it and move on.

Renewal

What do you think of with the coming of a new year?  Do you worry for things on the horizon?  Do you look back at what was left undone...what you could have done better?  Do you set goals for a "harder, better, faster, stronger" future?  What words come to mind?  Many of us resolve to revise, renew, reclaim, rework, reimagine, or even remake our lives in some way.  Well, I am one of these people...this blog has been a blessing in so many ways to many people and God has convicted me to revisit what He is doing here with the blog and with me.  A heart in Christ is a heart under construction.  It takes constant reworking, refining and renewing to remake a human heart into a Christ-like heart.

Renewal is not a new concept.  Each new season leads to the renewal of spring.  Each rain brings a revival of life.  Each trial we face brings reforming in our hearts, minds, and lives as Christ refines us from the inside out to make us more like Him.  Isaiah reminds us,

"You became weary on your many journeys, but you did not say, “I give up!” You found a renewal of your strength; therefore you did not grow weak." Isaiah 57:9-11

Refining can be wearisome...it is not easy to allow God's hand to remold our character...and if we allow ourselves to give up, do stay weary, to try to do it all on our own, WE WILL FAIL.  BUT, if we do not give up, if we look to God to renew our strength and lean on Him to help us through the reshaping process, we will come out on the other side renewed in deeper relationship with Christ and closer to the person He desires for us to be.

So, at the arrival of this new year, I'm prayerfully looking back on what God has done in my life in the past year and rethinking how I can partner with Him in what He is doing this year. In partnership with Christ, this blog will change from it's current form, and, hopefully become something honoring and glorifying to God.  Something that encourages and strengthens my renewal and, I hope, becomes something encouraging to you as well.

"Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may discern what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God." Romans 12:1-3